An ancient global warming event shrunk the earliest horses down to the size of scrawny housecats, according to new research that could have implications for what mammals might look like in a future warming world.

During what's known as the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, or PETM, about 56 million years ago, a massive release of carbon into the atmosphere and oceans boosted average global temperatures by about 10 degrees Fahrenheit (5.5 degrees Celsius) over 175,000 years. Mammals responded to this climate change by shrinking, with about one-third of species getting smaller.

Now, new research reveals that these changes occurred in lockstep with temperature fluctuations during the period. The earliest-known horse Sifrhippus started out this period as a bit of a pipsqueak: The animals weighed only about 12 pounds (5.6 kilograms) on average, about the size of a miniature schnauzer.

But by 130,000 years into the PETM, Sifrihippus had shrunk down to only about 8.5 pounds (3.9 kg), the size of a small housecat. These humble horses then experienced a size rebound, bulking up to about 15 pounds (7 kg) in the last 45,000 years of this warm period, putting them on par with the average bichon frise.

Then it must have cooled down again, because the last I checked horses were pretty dang big. Good thing too. What fun would it be going to the track and watching cat size horses? And what would cowboys ride? Would be a sad day indeed watching old movies with John Wayne sliding off a elephant.

Wow so in other words this has happened before. How incredibly man made. Did Al Gores caveman ancestor demand payment? Don’t tell me: He sat on his ass all day while cavemen paid him in skins and rocks for starting fires.

14
posted on 02/23/2012 11:41:20 AM PST
by GrandJediMasterYoda
(How ironic that Ann Coulter should write a book called Treason.)

An ancient global warming event shrunk the earliest horses down to the size of scrawny housecats, according to new research that could have implications for what mammals might look like in a future warming world.

So DemoRats would actually look like and be the size of....Rats?

Sweet!

23
posted on 02/23/2012 11:50:54 AM PST
by Navy Patriot
(Join the Democrats, it's not Fascism when WE do it. (plagiarized))

These “horses” were small with paws rather than hooves. Eohippus, one of the earliest horses, was about the size of a collie dog, for example, and had five toes. Occasionally a foal today is born with more than one hoof at the end of each leg. Julius Ceasar, before he became a Senator, owned such a horse; it was named Toes.

The small stature of these creatures may, in fact, be due to the scarcity of food rather than due to global temperature.

A very good description of what happened planet-wide after the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event (Chicxulub) can be found in John & Mary Gribbons book, Fire On Earth. When a bolide that large smacked into the earth, it sent powerful ground shock waves around that earth that met and possibly cracked open the crust, leading to a horrific volcanic event (Deccan Traps - India). It may well have taken millions of years for the earth’s geologic structure and climates to stabilize.

High temperatures themselves wouldn’t normally cause smaller sizes among animals, scarcity of food, however, would have done so. Many animals in equatorial Africa are large as long as they have ample food sources. In a hot place such as the Sahara, little food equals smaller animals or no animals.

Their whole logic is insane. If CO2 and temp increased back then, then plants would go haywire (like they do now, but even more so) growing out of everything possible, growing larger, more concentrated, increasing O2 even higher which would lead to even larger animal life forms.

Man or anything on this planet, short of a moon sized meteor hitting it or Al Gore never shutting up, will never ever overtake plants. It's THE reason the atmosphere is made up of 21% O2 while only 0.04% is CO2 (which you can literally call zero point zero BTW)

Plants RULE earth or maybe liberals think all this green stuff is green colored people and cars? And that is not even counting the ocean plant life like algae.

33
posted on 02/23/2012 11:57:44 AM PST
by GrandJediMasterYoda
(How ironic that Ann Coulter should write a book called Treason.)

Medieval Europeans experienced a warm period where wine grapes were grown in England, then followed a “little Ice Age”.

Despite hysterical warnings that an increase in temperature is caused by industrialization and will be unambiguously harmful to the economy - the Medieval warm period was pre-industrialization was was, by all accounts, a rather good thing. The “little Ice Age” that followed wasn't as much fun.

“Mammals responded to this climate change by shrinking, with about one-third of species getting smaller.”

Uh huh.. and what did the other 2/3’s do? One must presume they either remained as is, or got larger? So to say that mammals responded by shrinking is on its face nonsense.. some responded by shrinking others did not, and the majority did not.. so what exactly is this all about?

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